Senior Confessions

Senior Confessions of A Small Town High School.
This is a blog by a group of teens completing their final year of high school.
Read for true stories, advice, occasional rants, and questions that only high school students ask, with answers to all of them.

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Thursday, March 31, 2016

It looks a bit like Natalie and I have both forgotten about this site.. Can't blame us for keeping busy!

Senior year is kind of like traffic in town on a day there's a big concert. You all just want to get there and no be in traffic, but if you stop paying attention you're screwed and then have to deal with a fender bender, or if you're really unlucky, you total your car and have to get a new one.

The senior slump is real. Natalie is a lot better about getting all of her work done, but I just want to sleep, eat, and hang out with bae before we have to part ways for college. That's another thing. Relationships get really weird as graduation approaches. Some people get engaged, some people break up and get all dramatic. High school tends to be a madhouse, but as people realize that they won't see one another ever again, strange things come out. I have a friend who broke up with his girlfriend of four years just to mess around with freshman. Freshies, beware. Seniors often stop caring that you're a person too. But take everything I say with a grain of salt, I'm a pretty cynical person.

As the school year winds down, the weak are quickly uprooted. (Can you tell I get weird when I write while I'm tired?) But yeah keep your head up and just do the damn work as much as you don't want to. The acceptance letters will roll in if you work for them and applied yourself in high school. If your school is like mine, there are the people who try too hard and don't have lives, the people who have too much of a life and don't do school, and the few that do both and know how to balance it. I consider myself in the middle leaning toward no life.. I'm in AP classes, have solid grades that aren't always As but at lowest are high Cs, and I enjoy my time with friends getting tea in town via a hippy tea joint. Whatever works works.

Something big I think a lot of people don't get until college is that most people outside of high school don't judge others as much as you think they do. In high school maybe you were bullied for being a geek or for reading too much, partying too little and enjoying something that was a little different. In the real world that's admirable. Those who are the quiet kids who know what they like and who they like might not be respected in the prison of school, but after graduation they go on to be the engineers of Microsoft or Apple, or the architect that designs the Golden Gate Bridge, or the writer who's internationally recognized in their category. Find what you love and what you're good at. It'll pay off, just hang in there.

If anyone actually reads this and has something they want advice on, feel free to leave a comment!

Saturday, January 2, 2016

So, it's 2016! I graduate this year... And leave home to have misfit adventures hopefully at my dream school. Hooooooly crap I'm old.

So, my resolutions. I'm not sure they're traditional at all, but then again who wants a traditional artist? *scandalous winky face*

1. Stay true to myself.
In the last year, I've had some adventures. Boys, family, college, the usual stuff. But through it all, I've changed a lot of what makes me me. And I'm not sure they're good changes. To be sure, college will be a new perspective, but this year I'm going to be a little more and less selfish. The biggest thing I'm worried about is a bit mature, but welcome to reality. I've got some pretty hefty trust issues, especially when it comes to sex. I haven't done the do, and I'm not sure when I will or if I will before marriage, but whatever I do I'm not going to let anymore things "just happen," 'cause frankly that's BS. I've got my convoluted morals, and this year by God I'm not letting them go.

2. Actually work out.
The classic resolution that goes out as soon as the parties roll in! To be clear, I'm not fat. I'm incredibly out of shape, though. So, yes, I'm skinny - but, no, that doesn't mean I love my body. My resolution is to be able to do one pushup without shaking, plank for one minute without giving birth to my colon, and run 1 mile in at least 10 minutes.

3. Stop worrying about how others look at me.
I've grown up with traditional Christian parents. My mother has a habit of force-feeding me the values she holds dear, and that's taught me that everyone judges me. But what I've realised is that no one actually cares what you're doing so long as you're not doing something to hurt yourself or others. Be you. If people don't like that, find new people.

That's all I've got for now! If you have any suggestions, commissions, comments, or thoughts about the world feel free to let us know!

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Whelp, it's almost 2016. Natalie and I are scrambling to finish those early-application college things because money is hard. Can you tell we're busy yet?

Something that took me a really long time to figure out was how to "describe myself" in 600 words. Dear colleges, we're scared and not all of us are fit to be authors. Dear soon-to-be applicants, don't freak out, admissions counselors understand. So, I'll start with CommonApp.

With CommonApp, it's kinda nice to not have to re-write a thousand essays for super similar prompts. But a big key for me was choosing which prompt. I even made a document on google docs and tried to write an essay for all of them and then pick the best one. In the end, I didn't use what I thought I would. I'll post the essay later, when I'm sure I'm going somewhere, for an example. The key to it all is just to know how you write. Assuming you understand how english works, go from there. Not everyone can make those super artsy essays that are all, "The house stands majestically on the hill..." Heaven knows I couldn't.

What a college wants from you is to see who you are and how open you can be about your life. You're not Einstein -- if you are, great. Don't judge the rest of us. But for the rest of us, the admissions counselors are real people too. And it breaks their hearts that they can't let everyone go to their dream schools. C'est la vie. Just say (in a more formal and constructed way) "Hey, I'm a prospective student and I want this and here's who the heck I am and I'm awesome." If that means writing a well-written essay about bacon, do it. Just make it you.

Now, I'm probably different from most of you in that I reeeeally want to go to a school for art. That means portfolio, portfolio, port-frickin-folio. I'm applying to 4 colleges. Each one of them has a place to upload, describe, and show off how awesome I am. And I hope I can give some tips as to how to be awesome (or at least look it and pretend) to you. :)

1. Plan your Pictures.
You know what's good. You know what's you, and what's just another sketchbook assignment or boring project. If you're taking art in school, make it yours. If that annoys your teacher and they don't try to work with you, how crappy of them. Also, if you're any good at enhancing photos on any platform, do it. It's not cheating to show that you know how to make your work shine. Don't plagiarize - that's stupid. just bump up the contrast, sharpen, fix the lighting, make it look like a scan rather than a crappy photo. Display is key.

2. Get ready to write.
Yes, you get to write just about as much as a math major on finals week. Each of your pieces will need to be described. What inspired it? Don't you dare say "I made this cause teacher person said so." I will personally find you and smack you upside the head. Was the assignment to draw something with lines? It's a study in lines. Describe it like that. act like everything you put in there is fantastic because you planned for it to be.

3. Have patience.
While it sounds extremely redundant to be told to have patience after you spent years- yes YEARS - trying to make that stupid pen and ink piece, just breathe. If you're anything like me, you're gonna be freaking out. Grab some tea, play some music of choice that relaxes and focuses you, turn off your phone, stay off of social media, and for an hour, just work on uploading pictures. Do that every day as soon as you get the Slideroom link and you're set!

I'm off to finish up portfolios! Anyone visiting this page, feel free to shoot us questions! It may be a little while, but we will get back to you!

Also, senior year is the actual worst for relationships. If you're like me, you'll just be avoiding people for as long as possible. So far anyone I wasn't friends with before this year hasn't been the best friend. Senior year changes people. Stay strong, friends.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Hey everyone, Natalie here. I know it has been a while since I posted, but like Izzy I have been super busy. But hey, there is no time like the present, right? So there have been a bunch of stuff that has happened in the past couple of weeks that I just need to talk about.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Except I'm trying to keep up with 3 AP classes and 2 community college classes. And I'm turning into Charlie from Perks of Being a Wallflower and also trying to participate. Heh.

For all of my "pro tips" I'm awfully scattered. 7 months after the end of a rough relationship I just find myself searching for confidence. But hey, I'm not still trying to be a sociopath and not feel anything, so that's a good step forward. I actually feel ready for a healthy stable relationship, but I live in hillbilly hell.... I still feel something for Ross (my good ex that I blew it with) but hah.. Oops not gonna happen. And there's very few people I think I could handle being with here in this tiny slice of hell.

I try to keep my mind on the future. In a year's time I won't live in my mother's hoarder house and I'll be able to be myself without prior judgment.

Ross and I started talking a little bit more, and his advice was that I should just go for it and the rest will just work out. I'm not sure how much I believe him. In a year I could be anywhere. I could go to school in Chicago if I find the money. But considering I come from a family that's well off, financial help will probably not happen. Despite that I have two older sisters paying tuition. And my mother has mentioned taking my trust fund if I do something she dislikes... So continues the masquerade.

The more college apps I do, the more I wish my life was actually a struggle so I could flipping know what to write about. Ah the struggles of living a normal life? Hm.

Let's see, senior year... Only tip I've got right now is to keep a positive attitude. If you tell yourself everything sucks and that you just want to get out without doing any work, you're going to fail. You're subconsciously telling yourself to give up.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Guess what guys! It's almost September. And if you are anything like me, you already know what you want to read when it is published this month. However, if you don't, or you have lost track of which series normally publishes in this month, you have come to the right place. This month I will include 9 books that I want to read, (All of which have made it on to my Goodreads Want to Read list.)

1) Has To Be Love

By: Jolene Perry
Hits Shelves: September 1, 2015Years ago, Clara
survived a vicious bear attack. She's used to getting sympathetic looks
around town, but meeting strangers is a different story. Yet her dreams
go far beyond Knik, Alaska, and now she's got a secret that's both
thrilling and terrifying--an acceptance letter from Columbia University.
But it turns out her scars aren't as fixable as she hoped, and when her
boyfriend begins to press for a forever commitment, she has second
thoughts about New York. Then Rhodes, a student teacher in her English
class, forces her to acknowledge her writing talent, and everything
becomes even more confusing--especially with the feelings she's starting
to have about him. Now all Clara wants to do is hide from the tough
choices she has to make. When her world comes crashing down around her,
Clara has to confront her problems and find her way to a decision. Will
she choose the life of her dreams or the life that someone she loves has
chosen? Which choice is scarier?

2) Queen of Shadows

By: Sarah J. MaasHits Shelves: September 1, 2015Everyone Celaena
Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to
the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to
confront the shadows of her past .She will fight for her
cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight
for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she
will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their
lost queen's triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has
captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This
fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a
passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

3) Sweet Temptation

By: Windy HigginsHits Shelves: September 8, 2015Bad boy Kaidan Rowe has
never wanted for anything—money, popularity, musical talent…hot
girls—but seducing them is part of his duty as a Nephilim, slave to the
demon Dukes. As the son of the Duke of Lust, Kaidan has learned his
father’s ways, becoming a master of passion, a manipulator of chemistry.
Disobeying his father would mean certain death. Thankfully for Kaidan,
he’s good at his job. And he enjoys it.

Until he meets Anna
Whitt—sweet, smart, feisty, and inexplicably good—the one girl seemingly
immune to his charms. The daughter of a guardian angel and a fallen
one, she has a certain power over him, one that makes him wish for more
than he could ever deserve.

Determined to save all the Neph from
their dark lives as the influencers of sin, Anna joins forces with
Kaidan to overcome the demons’ oppressive ways. In the light of her
affections, Kaidan must undergo his toughest test of all, a battle of
the heart.

Sensual and swoon worthy, this companion volume to the
acclaimed Sweet Evil series from New York Times bestselling author
Wendy Higgins, told from the perspective of the irresistibly sexy and
mysterious Kaidan Rowe, gives readers revealing insights into his
struggle, his intense connection to Anna, and most of all, the true
emotions that drive him.

Author Note:Sweet Temptation
will encompass the entire trilogy in a condensed version, beginning with
Kai's life before he met Anna, and taking readers through the epilogue
of Sweet Reckoning. Sweet Temptation is a companion novel, not meant to
be a stand alone story. It will definitely be a richer experience for
those who have read the original trilogy.

4) Mirrored

By: Alex FlinnHits Shelves: September 15, 2015A modern,
multi-generational tale of Kendra, the witch from "Snow White," who
trains Violet, an ugly, lonely, and heartbroken girl in the 1980s who
transforms herself into "the fairest one of all" but still cannot win
Greg's heart, and Celine, Greg's daughter with Violet's high school
rival, Jennifer.

The tale of Cinderella has been retold countless times. But what you know is not the true story.

Pin
has no recollection of who she is or how she got to the Godmother’s
fortress. She only knows that she is a Seamstress, working day in and
out to make ball gowns fit for fairy tales. But she longs to forsake her
backbreaking servitude and dares to escape with the brave young
Shoemaker.

Pin isn’t free for long before she’s captured again
and forced to live the new life the Godmother chooses for her—a fairy
tale story, complete with a charming prince—instead of finding her own
happily ever after.

Sarah Prineas’s bold fairy tale retelling is a
dark and captivating world where swords are more fitting than slippers,
young shoemakers are just as striking as princes, and a heroine is more
than ready to rescue herself before the clock strikes midnight.

6) Blood and Salt

By: Kim LiggettHits Shelves: September 22, 2015When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in—blood and salt.”

These are the last words Ash Larkin hears before her mother returns to
the spiritual commune she escaped long ago. But when Ash follows her to
Quivira, Kansas, something sinister and ancient waits among the rustling
cornstalks of this village lost to time.

Ash is plagued by
memories of her ancestor, Katia, which harken back to the town’s history
of unrequited love and murder, alchemy and immortality. Charming
traditions soon give way to a string of gruesome deaths, and Ash feels
drawn to Dane, a forbidden boy with secrets of his own.

As the
community prepares for a ceremony five hundred years in the making, Ash
must fight not only to save her mother, but herself—and discover the
truth about Quivira before it’s too late. Before she’s all in—blood and
salt.

7) Library of Souls

By: Ransom RiggsHits Shelves: September 22, 2015Time is running out for
the Peculiar Children. With a dangerous madman on the loose and their
beloved Miss Peregrine still in danger, Jacob Portman and Emma Bloom are
forced to stage the most daring of rescue missions. They’ll travel
through a war-torn landscape, meet new allies, and face greater dangers
than ever. . . . Will Jacob come into his own as the hero his fellow
Peculiars know him to be? This action-packed adventure features more
than 50 all-new Peculiar photographs

8) Walk on Earth a Stranger

By: Rae CarsonHits Shelves: September 22, 2015Lee Westfall has a
secret. She can sense the presence of gold in the world around her.
Veins deep beneath the earth, pebbles in the river, nuggets dug up from
the forest floor. The buzz of gold means warmth and life and home—until
everything is ripped away by a man who wants to control her. Left with
nothing, Lee disguises herself as a boy and takes to the trail across
the country. Gold was discovered in California, and where else could
such a magical girl find herself, find safety? Rae Carson, author of the
acclaimed Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy, dazzles with this new
fantasy that subverts both our own history and familiar fantasy tropes.

9) A Mad Zombie Party

By: Gena ShawalterHits Shelves: September 29, 2015Ali Bell and Cole
Holland's crew of zombie slayers thought they'd won the war against
Anima Industries, the evil company responsible for capturing and
experimenting on zombies in an effort to discover the secret to
immortality. In the last epic clash, the slayers lost many of their crew
and closest friends. But Frosty, the ice man himself, has not recovered
from one casualty in particular—the love of his life, Kat Parker.

On
the path to self-annihilation, Frosty receives a message from
beyond—Kat's spirit returns, insisting he partner with rogue slayer
Camilla Marks. Frosty will do anything for Kat. Except that. Camilla is
the one who betrayed them all, leading to Kat's death.

But when
Anima rises from the grave to become a force the slayers may not have
the strength to overcome, Frosty, Camilla and all the slayers will have
to work together to survive. And one broken slayer will learn that
sometimes, the line between hate and attraction is blurred…and the road
to redemption isn't through revenge, but in letting go of the past and
grabbing hold of the future.

That's it for this month. What do you think? Anything you have been dieing to read? Let me know in the comments section.Peace OutNatalie

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

So, the first two days of school came and went. So far it's uneventful, and I miss my friends that graduated. Biggest event so far is having classes with people in my grade I don't know particularly well. Updates will happen with hopefully undramatic reflections.

Today I attended a webinar (web seminar) about SAIC (School of the Arts Institute of Chicago) which was fantastic. I really want to go to at least a big city school. Art Therapy right now sounds like what I want to go for.

Pro Tip #2: Be open to new Ideas.
I was sure from the age of 5 that I would be a veterinarian. Heh so done with dissecting things and watching weirdness be (literally) born.

Natalie is a lot better about consistently posting on here, but I'll try to make it more often and brief. I'm only always lost in my own head, so no promises!.
My goals for the upcoming year:

Make new friends/ get closer to the few I have

I'm basically a social potato.

I need to open up more with other people and stop using awkwardness and what I call "walls."

Focus on school work, and get organized.

(As much as the idea of a relationship appeals to me, there are no guys right now and if there were I'm not sure I'd even go there. Also, I've had really bad anxiety in past years thanks to relationship drama and I don't even want to go there this year)

Follow through! I always have issues with "Oh I'll do this" and I never get it done.

I'll leave the fashion to Natalie, but I may occasionally post a picture of a work of art that I appreciate/ hate and reasons why. I wore clothes and that's good enough for me. Well, I wore cute clothes. I might be a social potato but I try to be a cute one. There are days where I look like a dude and days where I want to be seen.

I recognize myself (in the light of stereotypes) to appear to be the loner or geek, perhaps even band geek. Those who know me probably classify me in one of these categories if they had to. I dunno not a lot of people know me very well and I'm not sure that I want them to. Last time I got extremely close to another person they up and left after getting tired of me. I'm getting to the point where I'm just tired of people.

Ahh to be as bitter as the exuberant amounts of coffee I consume. ^_^

Finally, just as Natalie has begun to sub-blog about books, I'll probably end up having a song of the week, starting this week! Feel free to share music with me or comment a favorite genre or anything! I'm open to literally everything. (Metal, Indie, Jazz, Screamo,, Country, Pop, Alternative, etc. literally - EVERYTHING)

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Sometimes the most daunting thing about the first day is the question, "What do I wear?" And right now, I am chasing my tail, attempting to figure out the answer to that question.It sometimes seems that all people in high school care about is what other people are wearing. If one girls skirt is too short, that means she's either an attention seeker. If one of the popular girls are wearing the same shirt as another popular girl, they absolutely have to post a picture on Instagram.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

There are just a few days until summer ends and senior year starts. And I am counting down the days. This past summer has been a blast, and I really have had a lot of experiences that have helped me grow as a person.